Firefox 2 to have a phishing shield

Mozilla says the upcoming version of Firefox will feature protection against phishing scams. This protection is based on technology that might come from Google.

The phishing shield is a key new security feature planned for Firefox 2, slated for release in the third quarter of this year, Mozilla's Mike Shaver said in an interview Tuesday.

"Everybody understands that phishing is a significant problem on the Web," said Shaver, a technology strategist at the company, which oversees Firefox development. "We are putting antiphishing into Firefox, and Google is working with us on that."

With the continued rise in online attacks, security tools have become something Web browser makers can use to try to stand out. Microsoft plans to include features to protect Web surfers against online scams in Internet Explorer 7, due later in 2006. Similar functionality is already in Netscape 8 and Opera 8, both released last year.

More details about Firefox 2 can be read over here. An early alpha version of Firefox 2 is expected this month but it will likely not include this phishing protection feature yet.